Thanksgiving and Prayer—2 Thessalonians 1:1–12
Topics: Assurance, Benefits, Faith, Future, Heaven, Hell, Hope, Judgment, Last Days, Perseverance, Rewards, Second Coming
Open It
1. *What experiences can destroy a person’s desire to live?
2. What fictional or real-life person endured difficulties and trials on the way to eventual triumph?
Explore It
1. To whom is this letter addressed? (1:1)
2. Who wrote this letter? (1:1)
3. Why did Paul thank God for the church at Thessalonica? (1:3)
4. What was the reputation of the church at Thessalonica? (1:4)
5. *What difficulties was the church at Thessalonica experiencing? (1:4)
6. *What do persecution and trials prove about God’s work in the church and the world? (1:5)
7. How will God deal with unbelievers and believers alike? When? (1:6–7)
8. When will God reward and punish people? (1:7)
9. For what reason will God punish people? (1:8)
10. *How did Paul describe the punishment of those who reject Christ? (1:9)
11. What will believers experience when they see the Lord Jesus? (1:10)
12. What was Paul’s prayer for the church at Thessalonica? (1:11–12)
Get It
1. What can we do to keep our faith growing?
2. What can we do to increase our love for others?
3. How can a person go through trials and yet have their faith strengthened?
4. *When we are going through difficulties, how do we know God hasn’t forgotten us?
5. What are some reasons we use to explain why we experience trials and hard times?
6. How could trials and hard times be part of God’s plan for us?
7. How will our view of the trials during our life be different after Jesus returns?
8. How does Paul’s description of hell compare to your ideas about what hell is like?
9. How do we discover God’s purpose for our lives?
10. *What lessons do you think God is trying to teach you through the trials and difficulties you have experienced recently?
Apply It
1. How could your life glorify the name of the Lord Jesus this week?
2. *In what trials and difficulties do you need patience and perseverance this week to see God’s eventual good results?
The Man of Lawlessness—2 Thessalonians 2:1–12
Topics: Confusion, Evil, Future, Hell, Hopelessness, Judgment, Last Days, Lost, Miracles, Second Coming
Open It
1. What would make you think that the end of the world was near?
2. If you were convinced the world would end in six months, what would you do until then?
3. *What evidence do you see of evil forces active in the world today?
Explore It
1. What subject was Paul addressing? (2:1)
2. What reaction had Paul’s previous letter caused among his readers? (2:2)
3. What must happen before the day of the Lord comes? (2:3)
4. *What kind of person will the man of lawlessness be? (2:4)
5. What is delaying the coming of the man of lawlessness? (2:6)
6. *What will happen to allow the man of lawlessness to be revealed? (2:7)
7. What will happen when the man of lawlessness encounters the Lord Jesus? (2:8)
8. *How will Satan’s power be evident during the time of the man of lawlessness? (2:9–10)
9. Why will people perish? (2:10–12)
10. What will God do to allow those who delight in wickedness to persist in their ways? (2:11–12)
Get It
1. How should a Christian react to any predictions about Christ’s return?
2. How close do you think we are to the end times and the return of Christ? Why?
3. What can a person do to get ready for Christ’s return?
4. *What gives Christians confidence as they face the end times and the forces of the antichrist?
5. *What powers of lawlessness and rebellion are already present in our world?
6. How can you decide if a miracle or a miracle worker is from God or from Satan?
7. What will cause people to turn away from God during the end times?
Apply It
1. *How can you strengthen your faith today so that you are ready to face any evil days that will come?
2. What can you say to a loved one or friend this week that will lovingly draw them away from wickedness and unbelief?
Stand Firm—2 Thessalonians 2:13–17
Topics: God, God’s Will, Maturity, Perseverance, Spiritual Growth
Open It
1. What causes many people to give up their plans for self-improvement (diet, exercise, etc.)?
2. What causes some people to lose their religious faith as they grow older?
3. *If God could give you an audible word of encouragement, what would help you most?
Explore It
1. For what reasons did Paul encourage people to thank God? (2:13)
2. How did Paul describe God’s role in our salvation? (2:13)
3. When did God choose the Thessalonian Christians for salvation? (2:13)
4. *What forces work for our salvation? (2:13)
5. Who calls people to salvation? (2:14)
6. For what reason did God call us to salvation? (2:14)
7. *What encouragement did Paul give to the church? (2:15)
8. What media did Paul use to send instruction to the church at Thessalonica? (2:15)
9. What impact did Paul want God to have on every believer in the church? (2:16)
10. *What did Paul want God to encourage and strengthen in the Thessalonian believers? (2:17)
Get It
1. How does God work in our lives even before we put our trust in Him?
2. How does God use other people to bring us to Him?
3. How has God changed you since you became a Christian?
4. *What does it mean to stand firm as a Christian?
5. What teachings should a Christian hold on to as he or she lives for Christ?
6. *How does God encourage us?
7. What does God do to strengthen us?
8. What weakens a person’s relationship with God?
9. What strengthens a person’s relationship with God?
Apply It
1. What can you do this week to remind yourself every day what God has done for you?
2. In what area of your life would taking a firm stand for Christ benefit you this week?
3. *When can you make time in your schedule this week to encourage another believer?
Request for Prayer—2 Thessalonians 3:1–5
Topics: Growth, Love, Maturity, Prayer, Salvation, Spiritual Growth
Open It
1. How frequently do you stay in touch with a friend who is many miles away?
2. *What motivates most people to pray?
Explore It
1. How had the gospel been received by the Thessalonians? (3:1)
2. How did Paul want to see the gospel received? (3:1)
3. *What prayer requests did Paul share with the Thessalonians? (3:1–2)
4. What did Paul want? (3:1–2)
5. What type of people were threatening Paul? (3:2)
6. How did Paul describe God? (3:3)
7. *What will God do for people who are threatened by the evil one? (3:3)
8. What confidence did Paul have in the Christians at Thessalonica? (3:4)
9. *How did Paul remind his readers of the Lord’s direction? (3:5)
10. What did Paul want his readers to remember about the Lord? (3:5)
Get It
1. *How does prayer change people or circumstances?
2. How could prayer help spread the message of the Lord?
3. *How does prayer protect us?
4. How does our belief about God affect the way we pray?
5. How can meditating on God’s love change us?
6. How can thinking about Christ’s perseverance strengthen our own stand?
Apply It
1. For what kind of growth in your Christian life can you pray this week?
2. *For whom will you pray this week that their faith may be strengthened?
Warning Against Idleness—2 Thessalonians 3:6–18
Topics: Character, Consequences, Discipline, Employment, Example, Jobs, Laziness, Work
Open It
1. *How does a person learn good work habits?
2. When have you been frustrated with a lazy person?
3. What kind of help do you think should be given to people who do not work?
Explore It
1. Whom should we avoid? (3:6)
2. What example had Paul set when he was with the church at Thessalonica? (3:7–8)
3. *What work habits did Paul display while he was in Thessalonica? (3:8)
4. *Why did Paul work so hard and pay for his food? (3:8–9)
5. What rule had Paul given about working and eating? (3:10)
6. What reports had Paul heard about some of the believers in Thessalonica? (3:11)
7. What had some people in Thessalonica become? (3:11)
8. *What was Paul’s command to the busybodies in Thessalonica? (3:12)
9. What encouragement did Paul give to those he called “brothers”? (3:13)
10. How were the Thessalonians to regard anyone who ignored Paul’s instructions? (3:14–15)
11. What should we do with people who do not obey these instructions? (3:14–15)
12. What blessing did Paul invoke on the Thessalonian believers? (3:16)
13. What did Paul do to make his final greeting special? (3:17)
Get It
1. *How can associating with idle, lazy people influence your work habits?
2. What bad habits can you develop by associating with the wrong crowd of friends?
3. Why should a Christian stay away from a person who has bad habits or doesn’t follow Christ?
4. *What example should a Christian set for others at a job or as a student?
5. What disciplinary action should be taken toward a Christian who ignores the teachings of the Word of God?
6. How should Christians respond to someone who doesn’t work or support his or her family?
Apply It
1. *What improvements in your work habits can you make this week?
2. What can you do this week to be a good influence on your fellow workers or students?
3. From what bad influences do you need to distance yourself? How?
Adult Questions for LESSONmaker (2024). Bellingham, WA: Logos, p. 2 Th 1:1–3:18.